The present invention relates to processing cured meats, and in particular, country ham slices suitable for serving on sandwiches and a process for making the same.
Cured meats, and in particular, country hams, are considered a delicacy that has been enjoyed for centuries. As an alternative to refrigeration or other cold storage, various types of meats are cured for preservation. For centuries, ham has been cured using salt. Traditionally, salt-cured hams are referred to as xe2x80x9ccountryxe2x80x9d hams. Prior to convenient refrigeration processes, hogs were butchered in the winter in temperate climate zones in the mid-Atlantic where the winters rarely provided days substantially below freezing or above 50xc2x0 for any extended period of time. The resultant hams were rubbed with salt and stored for winter. The winter temperatures prevented spoiling and provided environmental conditions that began a process of drawing moisture from the ham while causing the salt to penetrate the ham. This osmotic effect continued through spring as the temperatures gradually rose and the humidity decreased, thereby removing more moisture and causing deeper penetration of the salt. As summer approached and the temperatures rose, humidity levels further decreased to finalize the curing process. The result of the dehydration and salt penetration provided a salt-cured ham.
Currently, the curing process occurs throughout the year in temperature and humidity controlled processing facilities. A preferred country ham processing facility is Stadlers Country Hams, Inc. of Elon College, N.C. An exemplary curing process is a 95-day cycle consisting of the three stages. In the first stage, the salt coated ham is refrigerated at 40xc2x0 Fahrenheit at 80-85% humidity. The second stage of processing refrigerates the hams at 55-60xc2x0 Fahrenheit at 60% humidity. The third and final stage, stores the hams at 80xc2x0 fahrenheit at 55-60% humidity. As seen, the process emulates the traditional winter, spring and summer environments facilitating traditional curing.
Cured meats differ drastically from their pressed and formed counterparts. Pressed and formed hams formed in this matter is not dehydrated and poses little difficulty when slicing or otherwise forming serving sizes. Dry curing poses many obstacles when trying to slice, and otherwise form servings of the product. Because a cured ham is truly a dehydrated section of muscle, servings can differ greatly between slices and particular hams. There are essentially five major difficulties in providing tender, uniform slices of country ham. First, country ham can be difficult to bite through due to the dehydrated nature of the product. Second, there is a hole in each slice of the country ham where the bone was removed during processing. Third, due to the natural shape of the muscles of the ham, surface area differs from slice to slice giving the appearance of less ham in certain slices. Fourth, it is very difficult to get an exact portion weight with a whole muscle item like country ham. Fifth, producing a tender, substantially uniform product, is a very labor intensive process.
All of these problems, to various degrees, result in an actual, or at least perceived, quality issue. These issues are exacerbated when tender, uniform portions are necessary for sandwiches provided by restaurants. These restaurants and their customers demand consistency in the quantity and quality of the product. Further, due to the nature of the work force in the service industries, it is difficult for the restaurant to have employees make sandwiches with multiple pieces of country ham in a consistent and customer-pleasing manner.
Furthermore, given the natural preservations process of cured meats, there is a desire to eliminate any type of artificial preservatives or binding agents, which are often used to hold together pieces of meat. Eliminating additives, eliminates the need to list anything on the ingredient label other than the cured meat. Additives in cured meats are generally objectionable to the restaurants and their customers.
As such, there is a need for tender and consistent country ham slices and a process for making the same. There is also a need to eliminate the necessity of binding agents to bind pieces of the cured ham to form a serving portion.
The present invention provides a method for efficiently making dry-cured meat portions whose weight, size, and shape are easily controlled during manufacturing. The method includes preparing a very thin slice of the cured meat, which is approximately double the size and less than the desired weight of the final portion. To this slice is added a make weight slice of remnants and ham fat, or other binding agent. The xe2x80x9cmake weight slicesxe2x80x9d are formed by 1) mixing the lean remnants with semi-emulsified ham fat; 2) placing the mixture into a vacuum stuffer and stuffing the mixture into a fibrous casing; 3) freezing the stuffed casings; and 4) slicing the stuffed casings to form the make weight slices of a desired weight. The make weight slices made according to this method are easy to handle and have a consistent, known weight. The method greatly simplifies the process of making the controlled-weight serving portions. Preferably, the dry-cured meat is country ham. Moreover, flavoring agents may be introduced into the make weight mixture during the mixing step to add honey, maple, sugar or other desired flavors. A particular advantage of this approach is the elimination of any artificial binding agents whose presence on an ingredient listing of a final product would be objectionable to customers. The primary advantage is the consistency and ease of manufacturing of the final product, a tender, consistently uniform portion of country ham.